Memorial set for son of ‘The Big Bopper’

HOUSTON (AP) — A memorial service has been scheduled for the son of J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, who spent his life tending the legacy of his early rock-and-roll performing father.

The memorial is scheduled in Houston for Jay Perry Richardson. A statement from Austin-area music collector Randy Steele, a friend of the Katy resident, says the memorial will be at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home.

Steele says Richardson died Wednesday at a Houston hospital after a long illness. He was 54.

His father, “The Big Bopper,” recorded the hit single “Chantilly Lace” before he died with fellow rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in the crash of a small plane in February 1959 in Clear Lake, Iowa. Also killed in the crash was pilot Roger Peterson.